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Backlash after Cuomo names lobbyist to oversee Medicaid spending

A leading Republican congressman is demanding an investigation into how a lobbyist was named by the Cuomo administration to help oversee $8 billion in Medicaid funds, The Post has learned.

The probe would focus on Jim Introne, a top Cuomo health adviser who previously served as a hospital lobbyist and health-care consultant.

“Of particular concern is that Gov. Cuomo has appointed former health-care lobbyist Jim Introne to oversee the disbursal of the Medicaid waiver money,” House Oversight Committee chair Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said in a letter Thursday to the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Introne was a lobbyist for Catholic hospitals before joining the Cuomo administration in 2011 as the governor’s deputy for health. He oversaw a program to squeeze savings from New York’s mammoth $45 billion Medicaid program.

Introne then left to work for Sachs Consulting, a lobbying firm with clients that include the Greater NY Hospital Association and hospital workers Local 1199 — entities that rely heavily on Medicaid funding.

CEO Jeffrey Sachs also has close ties to the governor.

Introne returned to the Cuomo fold in June to help oversee the disbursement of billions of dollars in Medicaid funds as a special adviser to the state health commissioner.

The windfall is the result of a waiver won by Cuomo giving the state more flexibility in allocating Medicaid monies.

Issa told the federal oversight officials at CMS that a thorough review is warranted.

“We are concerned that the state has decided to put former health-care lobbyists with current conflicts in a decision-making position with regard to these funds,” Issa said. He noted that New York officials have “already announced that it is bailing out several hospitals throughout the state with these funds, particularly in Brooklyn.”

Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi accused Issa of engaging in a partisan hit job.

“Congressman Issa’s letter shows a complete misunderstanding of the process. Recommendations on how waiver funding will be distributed will be publicly made by an independent assessor and reviewed by a committee of non-conflicted experts,” he said.

“We’ve grown accustomed to Congressman Issa using his office and position to carry out a political agenda, but this baseless personal attack on the man who oversaw the governor’s Medicaid redesign, which saved both the state and federal government billions of dollars, is a new low.”

Issa also charged that New York City has overbilled the Medicaid program by as much as $300 million at Coler-Goldwater Hospital and $666 million for state-operated rehabilitation centers in 2010 and 2011.

A spokesman for the city’s municipal hospitals, which include Coler-Goldwater, said all spending was approved.